Opinion: Be True To You

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Most people are not that person, they are not who they think they are and that’s the truth.
Most people live a life that is far from who are they are, they think they are someone and live a life thinking that they are that person, yet they know they are not that person.

In a world of instant gratification and love for superficial material, many people, especially the youth, would readily trade their authentic self to live the life of the next person who seems to have it all together. They would easily lose themselves in the hope of finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
In most cases, people take on the persona or wear a mask of a person who is so far and different from themselves that they seem to forget who they are or as with most young people they believe they are that person they impersonate. It’s sad.

I know of many people both young and old, that want to be someone, like a businessman or a doctor. Nothing wrong with that, except when you are not being honest with yourself. It could never be you.

You know from inside yourself that some of these professions are just not for you. With all the perks and benefits they come with, somewhere within oneself you know that being that person could never be you.
Certain professions require people with certain traits and characters, most of these can be learned and mastered, but they could never be endured, especially when the going gets tough and at some point, the going always gets tough.

We all strive to be happy, productive and impactful in life. Some do it for their families, for their communities, out of fear and so on, but as long as you are not honest with yourself, you will never reach what you strive for, never! That’s just life, it has been like that and always will be.

At the end of the day, life is one complete picture, we can’t isolate it and only look at our careers or one aspect of life in isolation and expect them to give us a great life. You will ruin the picture. Everything about the picture makes the picture. It makes it real and authentic.

As long as we are honest about it, we can become that person we always knew we would be and in turn have a much happier, productive and impactful life while we roam the planet.
Just be honest with yourself.

*Olavi Popyeinawa has a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution and is currently studying law, LLB at the University of Namibia. He writes on youth matters. Twitter: @ OlaviPopyeinawa and olavipopyeinawa@gmail.com